APPT Macau: Main Event Day 1 concludes, Yue Hin Lam leads

A relatively short Day 1 has come to a close at the Asia Championship of Poker Main Event, with play halting a half-hour into Level 5 so as to allow players and staff to attend the ACOP Welcome Party starting a little later tonight. And a later-than-normal start for Day 2 (5:00 p.m. local time) should allow for a little extra revelry this evening.

With 184 players joining the fray, that built a total prize pool of $17,305,200 (HKD), crushing the $10 million guarantee. The top 22 finishers will be dividing those riches, with $4,240,000 of it going to the winner -- that's a first prize worth about $544,000 USD.

The atmosphere throughout the day in the Grand Waldo Conference and Exhibition Centre has been fairly relaxed, with the tension somewhat muted even as 40 or so players were eliminated, among them Gordon Huntly, John Juanda, and Johnny Chan.

Indeed, it's a long, five-day event for those going the distance, and besides the real drama will be coming later in the week as the money bubble approaches and the final table nears.

Leading the counts to end Day 1 is Macau's own Yue Hin Ham with 122,525.

Yue Hin Lam

Also ending the first day of play with healthy stacks are Joseph Cheong and David Martirosyan, both of whom finished in the top three of last night's ACOP Warm-Up event won by Jeff Rossiter. Alas for Rossiter, he wasn't as fortunate today as he was one of the eliminated.

Here's Lynn Gilmartin discussing the first day of play in the Main Event with APPT President Danny McDonagh:

Thanks for following today's coverage, and see you again tomorrow afternoon for what will again be a relatively short -- though likely more intense -- Day 2 of the ACOP Main Event.